Tom Bennett – författare

In Running the Room: The Teacher's Guide to Behaviour, Tom Bennett rewrote the book on behaviour management, and outlined the psychology and dynamics underpinning student habits. In this companion, he goes into more detail about how to apply those principles to the classroom. Addressing a wide range of circumstances, he explores popular teacher dilemmas such as:How to deal with students who are late?What are the best ways to work with parents?Managing cover lessons successfullyHow to tame smartphonesThe best way to design a seating planHow to start the lesson for the first timeDealing with low-level disruptionGetting the class quiet when you – and they – need it the mostAnd many more. Using practical examples and evidence-informed techniques, Tom demystifies the puzzles that complex behaviour often presents, and guides teachers new and old carefully to a better understanding of how to run the room they way everyone deserves.

‘Tom Bennett is the voice of the modern teacher.’ - Stephen Drew, Senior Vice-Principal, Passmores Academy, UK, featured on Channel 4’s Educating Essex

Do the findings from educational science ever really improve the day-to-day practice of classroom teachers?

Education is awash with theories about how pupils best learn and teachers best teach, most often propped up with the inevitable research that ‘proves’ the case in point. But what can teachers do to find the proof within the pudding, and how can this actually help them on wet Wednesday afternoon?.

Drawing from a wide range of recent and popular education theories and strategies, Tom Bennett highlights how much of what we think we know in schools hasn’t been ‘proven’ in any meaningful sense at all. He inspires teachers to decide for themselves what good and bad education really is, empowering them as professionals and raising their confidence in the classroom and the staffroom alike. Readers are encouraged to question and reflect on issues such as:

Controversial, erudite and yet unremittingly entertaining, Tom includes practical suggestions for the classroom throughout. This book will be an ally to every teacher who’s been handed an instruction on a platter and been told, ‘the research proves it.’

‘Tom Bennett is the voice of the modern teacher.’ - Stephen Drew, Senior Vice-Principal, Passmores Academy, UK, featured on Channel 4’s Educating Essex

Do the findings from educational science ever really improve the day-to-day practice of classroom teachers?

Education is awash with theories about how pupils best learn and teachers best teach, most often propped up with the inevitable research that ‘proves’ the case in point. But what can teachers do to find the proof within the pudding, and how can this actually help them on wet Wednesday afternoon?.

Drawing from a wide range of recent and popular education theories and strategies, Tom Bennett highlights how much of what we think we know in schools hasn’t been ‘proven’ in any meaningful sense at all. He inspires teachers to decide for themselves what good and bad education really is, empowering them as professionals and raising their confidence in the classroom and the staffroom alike. Readers are encouraged to question and reflect on issues such as:

Controversial, erudite and yet unremittingly entertaining, Tom includes practical suggestions for the classroom throughout. This book will be an ally to every teacher who’s been handed an instruction on a platter and been told, ‘the research proves it.’

Good behaviour is the beginning of great learning. All children deserve classrooms that are calm, safe spaces where everyone is treated with dignity. Creating that space is one of the most important things a teacher needs to be able to do. But all too often teachers begin their careers with the bare minimum of training – or worse, none. How students behave, socially and academically, dictates whether or not they will succeed or struggle in school. Every child comes to the classroom with different skills, habits, values and expectations of what to do. There’s no point just telling a child to behave; behaviour must be taught. Behaviour is a curriculum. This simple truth is the beginning of creating a classroom culture where everyone flourishes, pupils and staff.Running the Room is the teacher’s guide to behaviour. Practical, evidence informed, and based on the expertise of great teachers from around the world, it addresses the things teachers really need to know to build the classrooms children need. Bursting with strategies, tips and solid advice, it brings together the best of what we know and saves teachers, new or old, from reinventing the wheels of the classroom. It’s the book teachers have been waiting for.

In this edition, Hamish Chalmers provides a primer on the key questions teachers and researchers have about the education of children learning English as an Additional Language (EAL). From the general implications of teaching children in a language that many are still in the process of learning, to the specifics of EAL-friendly pedagogy, this volume includes contributions from both teachers and researchers in the field: Victoria Murphy, Constant Leung, Jonathan Bifield, Feyisa Demie, Ann-Margaret Smith, Naomi Flynn, Holly Joseph, Tracey Costley, Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen, and Eowyn Crisfield.Hamish Chalmers is a lecturer and EAL researcher at the University of Oxford, vice-chair of NALDIC — the UK’s EAL subject association — and erstwhile primary school teacher, both in the UK and overseas.